Not A Man
﻿''' Participants: KillerKing17 Yuri Kaslov MerchantofDeath Rules: Not many. Characters Jack Redfield: U.S. Sniper deployed in Anchorage, Alaska. The first out of the 1st Force Battalion. Jill Redfield: U.S Army Medic deployed in Anchorage, Alaska. General Wake: U.S. Army General, commander of all United States forces in Anchorage. General Hsu: Chinese Army General, commander of all Chinese forces in Anchorage. Preston Kennedy: Jack Redfield's spotter and best friend. Dante Hale: U.S Sniper, the second 1st Force Battalion sniper deployed in Anchorage. Sev Loudon: Leader of a small troupe of mercenaries in the Vegas area. Robert Murphy: NCR marshal Bios: *Jack Redfield Bio: American sniper. Born in Chicago in 2044. Deployed in Anchorage on June 2nd, 2069. His mother moved to Anchorage when she and her husband divorced in 2052. She had lived there peacefully for many years until one day the Chinese forces started to assault Alaska. She tried to flee to Chicago, where both of her children were, but her evacuation plane was shot down right outside of Anchorage on January 3rd, 2069. Jack has little training in modern combat, as if he needed it. His father taught him to hunt at the age of 6. He was raised with a rifle in his hands. He is very claustrophobic. Weapons: Gepard M6 .50 cal Anti-Materiel Rifle, YCS/186 Winterized Gauss Rifle, (occasionally) An older model of the DKS-501 .308mm Sniper Rifle, 1st Force Battalion SOA Bowie Knife, .44 Magnum revolver, Smoke Grenades. Clothing: 1st Force Recon armor, Night Vision Goggles, Combat Boots. Miscellaneous: Carries a Zippo lighter from World War 2, a gift handed down from his great-great-great-great Grandfather. Has a fear on tight spaces. *Jill Redfield Bio: American medic. Born in Chicago in 2040. Deployed in Anchorage on August 27th, 2069. Has been heartbroken ever since word of her mother's death arrived. Probably the most medically-trained nurse in her unit, Jill never wanted to go to Anchorage, due to it being the city where her mother died. Weapons: None Clothing: Usually Doctors Fatigues. Misc.: Deeply terrified of the Chinese, ever since she was raped by a Chinese soldier when her camp was overrun. She was the only survivor. *Dante Hale Bio: A strong American enthusiast. He hates the Chinese with a passion. Shows no mercy. He doesn't get along well with Jack, the only other sniper in his unit, but is very good friends with Preston, Jacks spotter. Weapons: DKS-501 .308mm Sniper Rifle, M24 7.62mm Sniper Rifle, 1st Force Battalion SOA Bowie Knife, 9mm M9FS Beretta. Clothing: Heavily modified version of the Winterized Combat Armor. Misc.:Shows no mercy to any Chinese soldier he encounters. He is a mysterious person. He shares a deep hatred to anything and everything around him. He is very annoyed with Jack's existence. *General Wake Bio: The Commanding Officer of all U.S forces in Anchorage. Known for his hatred of the Chinese. Weapons: A .44 Mag. Desert Eagle can usually be found holstered on his hip, as well as a black combat knife. Clothing: LAS-009 General's overcoat Misc.: None *General Hsu Bio: The commander of all Chinese forces in Anchorage. Known for his brutality against everyone, even his own soldiers. Also known for his lack of regards to his soldiers life's. Often not ordering a retreat when it is known that fighting the battle is a lost cause. Weapons: Electric Shocksword. Clothing: Chinese Generals Uniform Misc.: None *Preston Hale Bio: Long time friend of Jack's, Preston has accompanied him on almost all of his mission Weapons: Gobi Campaign Scout Rifle, Hungry Hank Bowie Knife, flares. Clothing: Some type of Riot Armor, presumably LAPD, as his father was a cop in California. Misc.: Has had many years of combat training. Has only killed 2 Chinese in his entire campaign. *Sev Loudon Bio: Sev grew up in a close-knit vagrant community. After a devastating raid committed by a rogue group of Great Khans, he wandered alone, wounded, for three years. He got to know several people in his travels, and formed his troupe of wandering mercenaries. Although they would carry out almost any job, Sev would often refuse any of the "morally unsound" ideas he came across, such as the destruction of Novac. weapons: An Ismael VZ21 is his primary weapon. He also keeps a pump-action shotgun for room clearing, and a .45 ACP M2023 handgun. Most of the others in his troupe use R91 or M199 rifles. Clothing/armor: Usually a suit of combat armor under a tan trench-coat. Misc.: Very erratic personality. He can be very playful one moment and solemn or angry the next. *Robert Murphy Bio: Robert Murphy was born in the slum section of New Reno to poor parents. When the NCR took annexed New Reno, he quickly joined up and began to work for them. He has served in the NCR Marshal Service for years now, and has arrested many outlaws (including Powder Gangers) who have attacked the NCR. Not to mention, Robert is extremely patriotic; and has hung many of the people he has arrested. Weapons: Cowboy Repeater, .357 magnum revolver, 10mm submachine gun, Combat knife. Clothing/Armor: Desperado hat, Leather vest, blue jeans. Misc.: Robert Murphy is famous for Western justice. Story The story is about Jack Redfield's adventures throughout his campaign in the Reclamation of Anchorage, and possibly beyond. Chapters: ﻿ Chapter One: Reclamation of Anchorage Jack Redfield, U.S Sniper deployed in Anchorage. He was on an assignment to scout an enemy Chimera tank depot, and when the command was given, rain hell with his Anti-Materiel rifle. He was to pick out the tanks, and the other man in his unit, Dante Hale, was to pick off the Chinese resistance. Jack, Dante, and Preston (Jack's spotter) sat on a cliff-side for 3 hours, waiting for the time when all of the Chimera tanks where refueling. Jack remembered the Generals orders... "There are 17 total tanks in this depot, and you must destroy, all of them.." ..and so Jack counted, "One, two, three, four.." and soon he counted a total of 15 tanks. He thought to himself, "I'll never get this many tanks in the open at once, I have to engage." He then told his squad-mates, "Dante, on my mark, you'll take out the counter-sniper in the Guard Tower, and I'll start picking off tanks. Got it?" Dante grew a smirk, and nodded. "Preston, you ready?" "Ready", said Preston. "Alright, lets rock and roll", said Jack as he put his eye to his scope. He adjusts the zoom until he's compensated for the angle and distance. "Three.. two.. one..." said Jack as he takes a deep breath. Jack was about to exclaim the "mark" command, but Dante had already fired a single shot. As Jack looks up he sees Dante's rifle recoiling into his shoulder. Shocked, Jack moves back into position in front of his rife, and squeezes the trigger, already aiming at the first tank. He sees the .50 caliber round fly through the sky and penetrate the Chimera's exterior, and sparks flew everywhere. He knew that tank was down. Meanwhile, Dante had fired off five to six more shots. Jack took aim at another tank, squeezed the trigger, and felt the crack of the rifle against his shoulder yet again. A few moments later he saw the tank burst into flames. "Holy shit! You hit his fuel tank!" yelled Preston. As Jack grinned and took aim once more. This went on for 2 minutes, and soon there was but two tanks left. As soon as Jack was squeezing the trigger, the tank spotted him and opened fire. Explosions ringed all around as the trees fell around the squad. Jack quickly snapped up his bipod, and grabbed Preston and pulled him up. He then yelled, "We gotta take out those tanks!". The squad headed for the main gate of the facility. Preston pulled out his pistol, and opened fire on the remaining infantry. Jack pulled Dante aside and told him, "Look, I'll take one of the tanks, and you take one. Try to get a grenade in em', or something." Dante nodded and sprinted to nearest cover, a pile of storage crates stacked on top of each other. Jack then dropped his rifle and pulled out his knife. He ran up to seemingly the only infantryman on the grounds. He stabs the soldier in the back of the neck, and he feels the spinal cord crack as he rips his fist outward. Then he grabs the soldiers grenade belt and pulls off two grenades. Jack then sprints to tank and jumps on the back. He climbs up the seeming giant tank, being careful not to put his foot into the tanks exhaust pipes. He reaches the top, opens the hatch and tosses both grenades in the tank. He leaps off of the tank and looks back in time to see a huge explosion engulf the tank and knocks Jack back 10 or 15 feet. As he gets up Preston runs to him and says, "guess they store live ammo in those things, huh? Not like in the movies." Jack grins and looks over to see if Dante has finished the last tank off. He sees Dante on the ground pulling the pin on his grenade, and he chucks it to the tank. But the grenade did little to the tanks exterior. Jack sighs, and lets out a "fuck". He starts after the tank. As he runs past his rifle, he bends down and grabs it. When he nears the tank he leaps on top of a barrel, and hops onto the tank. He points his rifle downward and squeezes off three shots. The tank stops firing, and the hatch on the tank opens, and soon as it does, Dante turns around and kick the hatch down, smacking the escaping soldiers face. He then puts a round into the locking mechanism, disabling it. He hears the screams of the Chinese as he hops off of the tank, and heads towards the gate. "Job well done", says Preston as they both walk towards the exit. "I didn't need your help, you know. I would've done that." says Dante. Jack replies, "Yeah, and I'm a commie." KillerKing17 16:52, January 22, 2011 (UTC) Chapter Two: Not The Old Me Jack slowly opens his eyes and sits up. It was a dream. None of it real. Not anymore, at least. "Fuck. I thought it was real this time. If only I could go back...", says Jack as he sits up in his king-sized bed. He walks to his window and yawns. There's not much outside to greet him, just broken roads and dirt. He looks over his shoulder and sees his his SOA Bowie Knife, sitting all alone, on the center of his fireplace. "At least I still have this old piece of shit." He walks over to his knife and grabs it. "It's all I have left of.. Jack.." He then looks down at his self, revealing the metal pieces all over his body."I'm not even fucking HUMAN anymore. More like some of kind of fuckin' cyborg." He takes his knife and slowly slices his arm, right down his vein. "Damn, that hurts more than I remember", he says looking down at his wound. The cut then slowly starts to sew itself shut. "Ahahaha, now that's what the fuck I'm talkin' about!" He then puts on his armor, a heavily modified piece of Tesla armor, which glows dark red. He walks to a metal cabinet, spanning half the length of his wall, and places his thumb into a slot in the center of the cabinet. The Cabinet opens up, revealing a whole arsenal of firearms. Assault rifles, handguns, knifes, grenades, the whole nine yards. He takes a very small sub-machine gun and places it in a holster on his back. He then grabs his Anti-Materiel rifle and places the sling around him. He also takes 2 knives, and places them in his respective carrying cases. Then he grabs two .44 Magnum revolvers, painted Magnesium black, and puts them in their holders next to his knives. "There is one upside to bein' a fuckin' walkin' tank, you can carry the whole state of Alaska on your back. Hehe..", says Jack as he walks out the door to the harsh wasteland that surrounds him. "First to The Strip, and I'll talk to Not-At-Home about what the fuck he wants me to do with these fuckin' cards of his. Then I guess I'll go Mirelurk huntin' with Boone." He then puts on his sunglasses to cover his blood-red pupils. "Don't wanna freak any motherfucker out with my robot-ness." Then Jack starts walking. The only thing he knows for sure, is he has one fucked up life. KillerKing17 02:56, February 13, 2011 (UTC) Chapter Three: Anchorage Jack walked in the freezing weather of Anchorage. People ran past him, generating tiny winds that would probably freeze his nose off. The base had been active for almost two hours now, since the Chinese had captured a small portion of Chugach state park. Even though the base was almost fifteen miles behind the frontlines, the Chief of Staff were worried about a possible full-on attack. Jack looked over to his right, and saw the 1st Armored Division's troops getting fitted with the T-45d Power Armor. To Jack, it almost looked like they were putting the soldiers into sardine cans; which gave him the willies when he thought about it. He pushed the thought aside, and kept walking toward the General's tent. When arrived at the General's tent, intelligence officers were running in and out of the tent; carrying huge stacks of papers to the radio tent. Jack squeezed himself through the door, and heard Wake's usual rants when he walked in. "God damn those fucking chinks," Wake yelled, smashing his fists onto the interactive map ", every time we think those fucking yellows are getting their asses licked; another battalion pops out of nowhere and slaughter's my troops." "Sir, if I could say something about this last attack," said one of the Colonels near the map ", Chugach wasn't a very good position to attack; the Chinese have a tunnel system in the hills there sir, and...." General Wake interrupted the Colonel ", I'll show you wast wasn't a very good position with my foot. I made specific requisition for the 9th to cover our asses when we moved in that park; but that god-for-nothing Chase was still giving personal handjobs for the President, and he was probably to busy." One of Wake's advisers came up to Jack, and whispered to him ", I'll get the General in a second; just need to ease in there." The adviser quickly walked over to the general, tapped him on the shoulder. "What the hell is it?" he yelled, turning toward his adviser. The adviser spoke fast, pointing toward Jack only once; and the General nodded. "Dismissed," he said to the Colonel; and he began to walk over to Jack with his arms behind his back. Jack saluted as soon as Wake was two feet away from him, puffing his chest out slightly. "At ease," said Wake, and Jack relaxed his muscles. "Now," said the General, moving back toward the map ", let's get down to business." Jack walked over to the map, and noticed two red and blue blobs that occupied the map; with the red owning all of Anchorage and the blue owning everything west of that. "As you heard, Ching Chong ambushed our division over at Chugach; and got them good. Now the division's being getting the shit pounded out of it, and I can't get anyone to stop the damn artillery from hitting them. That's where you come in." General Wake tapped three specific places near the Chugach, which were illuminated by yellow dots. "I need you to take out these artillery posts by any means necessary, or else we aren't going to get even a piece of Chugach. If we lose it, the Reds are going to pour through and go on this base like ants on a picnic. You know what to do, dismissed." Jack saluted, and walked out the tent's door and into the cold. -MerchantofDeath 18:13, February 26, 2011 (UTC) Chapter Four: A Chance Meeting Jack came back to his senses and realized he was looking towards the sky. He saw nothing but blue, no clouds, no stars, just blue. He thought to himself, "that's about as bright as this wasteland gets now-a-days." He looks down and sees a gun barrel, pointed at his head. "Well, hello to you too." The man was alone, but the only thing Jack could focus on was the gun pointed at his head. On one side it read "For Honorable Service", and on the other, "Against All Tyrants". He looked at the mans face. He seemed halfway normal, but when he looked at his body he had on the NCR Veteran Ranger armor. But it was strange that he wasn't wearing his helmet. "Not like a Legion to let down their guard, any last words before I send you back to hell?", said the Ranger. "Nothing more than this. I'm not a Legion." "Bullshit. You're legion. A Centurion from the looks of it. Fancy armor, if I do say so myself. I might take it for myself." "Listen here, buddy. I'm not a Centurion. And this armor doesn't belong to Caesar. It's mine. And if you don't take your gun away from my face, I'll rip you a fucking new one." To which the Ranger replied, "Heh, I ain't takin' no shit from your kind. Fuck. You.", as his finger slowly pulled the trigger. As the crack of thunder rang in his head, Jack moved to the side, and quickly disarmed the man. He then pointed the weapon at the Ranger and pulled back the hammer. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he looked at the Rangers face. He was terrified. But he wasn't looking at Jack. Jack looked over his shoulder and saw The Legion, at least forty of them, coming down the hill. "Looks like your reinforcements are here." "They're not mine.." as the Legion opened fire on the two men. "Shit!" yelled the Ranger as he bolted towards the Sunset Sarsaparilla billboard sign. Jack turned around and opened fire with the single-action pistol he'd acquired. He fired off 5 shots simultaneously. And he went to pull the trigger again and heard the faint "click" of the hammer hitting the firing pin. He dropped the pistol and ran towards the billboard. There he was greeted with the Ranger, staring at him in a blank state. "You don't have another weapon, do you?" said the Ranger. Jack pulls out the 12.7mm SMG he got from his house and handed it to the Ranger. "And don't go all fuckin' Rambo with it either, that ammo's not easy to find." Jack pulled out his Gepard M6 rifle as bullets rang all around him. He leaned out of cover and saw a Centurion walking dangerously close to him. "Fuck". He pointed his rifle in the direction of the Centurion and slammed his finger on the trigger. He opened his eyes just in time to see the Centurion fly back in a cloud of blood. He cycled the bolt and continued firing on the wave of infantry. He fired off 7 more shots before he heard the all too familiar "click" of the hammer. He then pulled out his dual .44 Magnums and aimed at the remaining infantry. He pulled the triggers almost simultaneously. Two of the Legion were kicked back and fell down. He fired off two more, then two more, and then another two. "I'm out! What now!? yelled the Ranger. Jack took off his ammo belt and threw it to him. "And don't try usin' the fifty's! It won't work!" "Oh haha! Very fuckin' funny!" Jack pulled both trigger again. And again. And then he knew he was out. For a moment he thought about pulled the triggers again, just in case, but he was afraid he'd be greeted by the sound of emptiness, a sound he'd heard too much already. He was out. Out of ammo. Out of guns. Out of everything. "Knew I shoulda' brought the R19, I fuckin' knew it!! Hey kid, gimmie' my gun back." "What? Fuck no! You are 'NOT '''leaving me here!" "Yeah? No shit Sherlock! Just trust me. Gimmie the gun." The Ranger reluctantly handed Jack the SMG. Jack hit the mag release and inserted a fresh one. "Watch this". Jack bolted out of cover and opened fire on the Legion. 5 or 6 of them fell. He kept running and squeezed the trigger once again, firing until the magazine was empty. Another 5 fell. At this point there was at least 4 guys left. Jack dropped the SMG and sprinted towards the remaining infantry. He pulled out his Bowie Knife and lunged at one of the Legion. His arm was pulled back, but as soon as he was within "stabbing range" he quickly thrust his arm forwards, stabbing the man in the throat. When his feet touched the ground he reached for the Marksman Carbine slung around the Legion's hip. When he grabbed it he rapidly pulled the trigger 7 or 8 times. One of the men fell down. Then he aimed at the other and opened fire. After the 5th shot that man fell. Then Jack dropped the carbine and gripped his knife tightly, realizing he had it in his hands all along. Bullets bounced off his skull this whole time. He started at one of Legion and threw his arm back, slicing his throat. Then he threw his arm forward and stabbed the last remaining Legionnaire in the side of the neck. They both just stood there for a moment, staring at each other. Jack broke the silence by ripping knife towards him. The Legionnaire immediately fell. Jack started walking back to the Ranger. "Holy shit! How the fuck did you do that!? That was fuckin' amazing!" "Hold your words. Why were those men after you?" "Well reckon' they wanted this fancy chip. I found it on some poor lad bein' crucified over by Nipton. Told me I needed to take it to Mr. House." "Fancy that, I'm on my way to Mr. House too. Takin' him these here cards. Nothin' special about em'." "You reckon he's gunna' play some Texas Hold Em'?" "I don't think it's that simple." KillerKing17 20:04, February 26, 2011 (UTC) 'Chapter Five: Old World Past As Jack approached Novac, he could only admire the work whoever had done this did. Building were scorched and some still burning, and there were bodies crucified on crosses up and down the road. He could see only 3 or 4 people that were still alive, barely. "I'm looking for a man, who has had a poker chip in his possession. One of the distant men replied, "Well partner, I think we've all had a couple chips in our "possession" at one time. Bein' that The Strip is not too far away. Hehehe.." "This isn't just any chip, this chip was platinum, not plastic. It was metal.", replied Jack. "I've had a chip matching your.. ah... description..", said the man closest to Jack. "Holy shit!! I didn't think you'd be alive after what they did to you!" "Yeah, I've had worse. That one man was awful scrawny, and he didn't hit too hard." "Enough, I need to know where you found that chip. It's vital to saving my... my mission, it's vital to.. completing, my mission." Said Jack. "Well, if you want to know that much..." the man cringed in pain, "you gotta' promise me you'll get me down" "Do you actually think you can make it? You've got holes in your arms and legs, and you've been bleeding out for who knows how long." "6 days and 3 hours, last time I checked. I can't really see the clock in the General Store anymore. That one guy over there, he's a bleeder. Spewed all kinds of nasty on that window when that one guy came threw here not too long ago. I've never seen anything like it, one punch, and the guys whole damned head's gone." "What? One punch? That's very odd. Did he say anything? What did he look like?", snapped Jack. "Well he didn't really give me a fuckin' bio, and I was a little busy with my mortal wounds, so forgive me if I can't provide the information you seek." "Hah, how about you start talking or you'll wish whoever did this had killed you." "Fine, cool your jets Caesar. You're just like him. That's why I quit that job.", said the man. "Look here friend, just tell me what you know, and I'll let you down, granted you don't bleed out in the process." "Fine, some tall and muscular lookin' guy came threw here yesterday and asked ol' Bleeder there if he knew anything about the Big Empty and somethin' about a person named Ulysses, or something like that. Well anyway Brainy told him that Ulysses was at the Divide, and he was going to "reclaim a part of his past," and that even if someone wanted to stop him, nothin' can prevent the rising of the Old World. So Mr. Evil asked him how the in the hell the Old World was going to rise up, the genius spat in his face, and the dude threw a hard right and split his head in two." "Dante..", replied Jack. "That his name? Hmm, he looked it too." "Yeah, he doesn't go by that anymore though. I wonder what he was doing looking for the Big Empty. That place is too hard to hit head on, even for a guys like us." "Like us? 'The fuck does that mean?" "Nevermind. Do you know how to get to the Big Empty from... let's say.. The Strip?" "Yeah, I sure do. Just cut me down, and I'll tell you." Jack removes his knife from his holster and wedges out the nails first in his hands and then his feet. The man falls to the ground. "Motherfucker, looks like I've done forgot how to walk. Heh.." "Get up, I need to get to the Divide and stop Dante." "Your telling me. I've only heard about this "Ulysses" in my travels, and it seems as if he has something against me. Probably something I did in my past. Although I don't remember much of that." "That makes two of us. Anyway, what does this Ulysses do? Have you seen him? What do you know?", Jack said. "Well, from what I gather, he's after me. Obviously. But he'd be a fool to take me on mono e mono, so what I reckon' is, he's going to do whatever it takes to get the upper hand on me. And if that means raising up the Old World, than that's what he'll do. He's probably going to Big Mountain to get some new firepower, and if the shit I hear is true, maybe even getting some more... 'permanent' upgrades.", said the man. "What have you heard about the Empty? What about these 'upgrades'?" "Well, from what I hear, the military over there used to make these 'cyborgs', humans with enhanced skills. Not like those robot runaways. They can actually think for themselves." "Holy.. shit...", said Jack, staring into the dirt. KillerKing17 01:27, April 12, 2011 (UTC) Chapter Six: Meeting the Courier What’s the matter? Some thin’ troublin’ you?” said the man. “No. Just thinking of what Dante could possibly be doing at The Empty. I wonder why he seeks out this Ulysses man. I wonder what he’s doing in the Mojave. I wonder all these things but I do not know the answer to any. It’s a strange feeling.” “Well, if you want my input, I think I might have a few plausible reasons.” “Fine. What do you think?” “Ha, okay, so here’s what I’m thinking, Ulysses is doing something to piss Dante off, whatever the fuck that means. Like I said, Ulysses wants some ‘extra firepower’, and God knows what the other guy wants. Ulysses wants me dead. And I don’t know what role I play in this movie, but I know it’s a big one. Dante’s probably got a few questions for Ulysses himself, naturally.” “That’s not much help, friend.” “Yeah well talk to me when I’m not missing a couple gallons of blood.” Said the man in a quirky tone. “Very well, what is it people call you, anyway?” “People around these parts call me ‘The Courier’. Just somethin’ that’s caught on.” “You work for the Mojave Express..?” “Worked”, replied the man. “I used to, until one of my deliveries went bad, and I ended up with a bullet in my brain. “What was your package?” “The chip you spoke of. I didn’t know it at the time, but the chip was very valuable to Mr. House. Anyways this ‘cat’ Benny came in and shot me in the noggin on my way to The Strip. Mr. House paid me a lot of caps to kill Benny and return the chip. So I found Benny at the Fort, the poor bastard tried to escape Reno by boat, right in front of the whole camp. So I killed him, the same way he was going to kill me, with the same gun. I pride myself in that. Anyway, Caesar wanted me to help the Legion take over Hoover dam with the chip. I declined. He didn’t want me giving the chip back to House, so he sent a hit squad for me on my way to The Strip. The funny thing is, I escaped the hit squad and then ran right into a fucking Legion death-trap called Novac on my way to get supplies. Lucky me. They tortured me like none other. They had a ‘lottery’, or Hells equivalent. The person to won got to live. The second had a quick death. Everyone else burned. Some were crucified for their wrongdoings, like me. They were searching my 'corpse' when 5 or 6 NCR troopers came in and slaughtered them all. I gave the only Ranger there the chip. He got pushed back when my hunting party showed up, however.” “All of this over a chip? Must be pretty damned important. So important that Dante walked across the country to get it. We must get to the Divide. Whatever Dante’s doing, it’s bad. I have to stop it.” “I know my way there. I was going to go there once, but I ran into a road block. Cars piled up high, like someone didn’t want me to get to Ulysses.” “That’s it! Dante doesn’t want to harm Ulysses, he wants to get in the Empty. And Ulysses knows how. By God, he’s trying to get stronger! This isn’t something I’d choose! Dante what the fuck are you doing…” “So it’s true? They are making humans into robots!” “I suppose. I guess I had to be built somewhere. They told me not to worry about it. After all, Big Mountain didn’t have such a great reputation at the time.” “Wait..what? You’re not trying to tell me you’re one of those human hybrids!” “Yes, I am”. Replied Jack. “Fuck me silly…” “No matter, let’s get going. To the Big Empty.” “I can’t believe I’m going to get Ulysses, with a cyborg.” “I can’t believe I’m going…home.” KillerKing17 21:12, April 13, 2011 (UTC) 'Chap'ter Seven: Homecoming What’s the matter? Some thin’ troublin’ you?” said the man. “No. Just thinking of what Dante could possibly be doing at The Empty. I wonder why he seeks out this Ulysses man. I wonder what he’s doing in the Mojave. I wonder all these things but I do not know the answer to any. It’s a strange feeling.” “Well, if you want my input, I think I might have a few plausible reasons.” “Fine. What do you think?” “Hah, okay, so here’s what I’m thinking, Ulysses is doing something to piss Dante off, whatever the fuck that means. Like I said, Ulysses wants some ‘extra firepower’, and God knows what the other guy wants. Ulysses wants me dead. And I don’t know what role I play in this movie, but I know it’s a big one. Dante’s probably got a few questions for Ulysses himself, naturally.” “That’s not much help, friend.” “Yeah well talk to me when I’m not missing a couple gallons of blood.” Said the man in a quirky tone. “Very well, what is it people call you, anyway?” “People around these parts call me ‘The Courier’. Just somethin’ that’s caught on.” “You work for the Mojave Express..?” “Worked”, replied the man. “I used to, until one of my deliveries went bad, and I ended up with a bullet in my brain. “What was your package?” “The chip you spoke of. I didn’t know it at the time, but the chip was very valuable to Mr. House. Anyways this ‘cat’ Benny came in and shot me in the noggin on my way to The Strip. Mr. House paid me a lot of caps to kill Benny and return the chip. So I found Benny at the Fort, the poor bastard tried to escape Reno by boat, right in front of the whole camp. So I killed him, the same way he was going to kill me, with the same gun. I pride myself in that. Anyway, Caesar wanted me to help the Legion take over Hoover dam with the chip. I declined. He didn’t want me giving the chip back to House, so he sent a hit squad for me on my way to The Strip. The funny thing is, I escaped the hit squad and then ran right into a fucking Legion death-trap called Novac on my way to get supplies. Lucky me. They tortured me like none other. They had a ‘lottery’, or Satan equivalent. The person to win got to live. The second had a quick death. Everyone else burned. Some were crucified for their wrongdoings, like me. They were searching my corpse when 5 or 6 NCR troopers came in and slaughtered them all. I gave the only Ranger there the chip. He got ran off when my hunting party showed up, however.” “All of this over a chip? Must be pretty damned important. So important that Dante walked across the country to get it. We must get to the Divide. Whatever Dante’s doing, it’s bad. I have to stop it.” “I know my way there. I was going to go there once, but I ran into a road block. Cars piled up high, like someone didn’t want me to get to Ulysses.” “That’s it! Dante doesn’t want to harm Ulysses, he wants to get in the Empty. And Ulysses knows how. By God, he’s trying to get stronger! This isn’t something I’d choose! Dante what the fuck are you doing…” “So it’s true? They are making humans into robots!” “I suppose. I guess I had to be built somewhere. They told me not to worry about it. After all, Big Mountain didn’t have such a great reputation at the time.” “Wait..what? You’re not trying to tell me you’re one of those human hybrids!” “Yes, I am”. Replied Jack. “Fuck me silly…” “No matter, let’s get going. To the Big Empty.” “I can’t believe I’m going to get Ulysses, with a cyborg.” “I can’t believe I’m going…home.” KillerKing17 00:56, April 16, 2011 (UTC) 'Chapter Eight: Detour' And so they walked, along the broken and beaten roads, "to the Big Empty" they said. They walked for about 8 hours. And finally they ran into the roadblock the “Courier” spoke of. “See, told you so.” “Yeah, this was Dante alright. Damn fine work.” “Yeah yeah, whoopty-fuckin’-doo. Can you move it?” “Of course I can move it.” Jack went into a running stance and charged at the roadblock. He slammed against a bus and made a hole straight through it. “Tight fit. You’ll have to squeeze through.” Said Jack as he stared at the gaping hole, making an obvious sarcastic quote. “Well now here comes the hard part. I have no idea what’s beyond this roadblock.” “Well the way I see things, there’s only one way to find out.” “Good point.” And with that, Jack and the Courier started walking, again. There were canyons on either side of them. And eventually they ran into a makeshift camp. “Here, take this SMG. If shit goes down, pull the trigger until it stops firing.” “12.7 millimeter, top-mounted mag, has as higher spread than your average 10mil. Very nice.” “So you’re not an imbecile after all.” “Heh, not by most standards.” Jack gripped one of his .44 Magnums and walked into the camp. To his surprise, he was met with an NCR Ranger, even more strangely, it was the same one whom he had met earlier when he was ambushed by the Legion. “Holy fuck. It’s you again! And YOU!. You were dead! What the hell!?” “Simmer down. You remember me, obviously. I met our friend here in Nipton and I cut him loose. We are on our way to track down certain ‘men of interests’. Now, what are YOU doing here?” said Jack. “Well, friends, after you saved me from that hunting party, I went down to Mr. House and asked him about the chip. He told me that ‘the power within the chip was of no use to me’. So I kept pestering and pestering. He just told me it wasn’t any of my business. So I decided to head over to the Tops and loose some caps. When I asked about Benny, the owner, Swank said he’d been ‘sacked’. I went up to his room to see if I could find anything to ‘help improve my luck’ and I found, of all things, a robot. His name was.. Yeah Man or Bus Man or somethin’ like that. Anywho, I decided to ask HIM about the chip, after all, what could it hurt. Turns out this Chip activates a secret Securitron army. But he didn’t know where the Army was at. I figure it HAD to be at Big Mountain, because.. come on.. it’s Big Mountain.” “So.. you’re going to the Big Empty?” replied Jack. “Well it’s not exactly EMPTY, but yes, I’m going there nonetheless.” “Well what are you doing in such a half-assed camp? Why aren’t you Oscar Mike?” Oscar Mike? Who the fucks’ that?” “Nevermind. Well since the Courier and I are also heading there, why don’t you come with us?” “That sounds like a great idea, except I had this platoon of men here, and they’re all injured. We were ambushed just last night by some damned Tribals.” “Damnit.” Exclaimed Jack. “Can nothing be simple in this God-forsaken world!?” “I have to tend to these men, or they will die. The ambushers only used arrows and spears, pretty primitive shit, but they were poison-tipped. So I have to pump em’ full of chems every few hours.” “Damnit damnit damnit. Well friend, I wish you luck. We simply cannot stop and help you.” “Well I didn’t expect much more. But, I do have something that might change your mind. The chip” “What about it?” questioned Jack. “You can have it. IF you help me. I have no use for it.” “No use for it? If what you say is true you could help the NCR take over Hoover Dam.” “Of shit, yeah I kinda ‘forgot’ to tell you… I’m not really WITH the NCR anymore. I was discharged.. about a year ago now.” “What? Then why do you still carry the mark of the Bear? Why do you still work in their interests?” “The armor, you mean? Well I just wear it, always have. I haven’t worn anything else as long as I can remember. And as for working for them.. well.. I haven’t. I simply went with them to Nipton providing some extra firepower. Chief Hanlon wanted me to. And I simply couldn’t decline.” “Well what about the men who follow you? The troopers?” “Oh my platoon isn’t of troopers, it’s of mercenaries.” “Well hot damn. I pegged you as one of them NCR democratic asshole as soon as I saw you.” Said the Courier. “If you no longer serve under the Bear, then why do you wish to activate the Securitron Army?” said Jack. “I just wanted to be in charge of something. I wanted to be able to do whatever I wanted with them. Silently waiting until the right moment when I could spring into action, and help fight off the evil of the Wastes. But after what the mercenaries tell me about the Big Empty, and these Tribals ambushing us, I don’t think it’s worth it. I want to live to fight another day. “Fine. That is your decision. What can I..we.. do to help your men?” “I need some antivenom. Well.. more like a lot of antivenom.” “Easy, I know a guy in Freeside who can sell me a load of antivenom for a discount price.” Said the Courier. “No no no, I need a special kind of antivenom. I’ve tried this Mojave kind, it doesn’t work. I don’t know what kind of poison they tipped these arrows with, but it’s rare. So rare I’m willing to bet no one in the Mojave has an antibiotic for it. You must track down the source of the poison and create your own medicine.” “Damnit! I could simply but a bullet between your eyes and take the damned chip!” “I garuntee you won’t want to do that. I may not be as young as I used to, but I sure as hell haven’t lost my aim.” “Can you take down a cyborg?” said the Courier. “A cyborg..? What?” “That’s right, hot head over here’s a robot. Kinda’.” “Are you joking? He can’t be serious!” “It’s true. I am. Half man, half computer. Been around since before the Great War.” “The Great War? You mean the war that destroyed HUMANITY AS WE KNOW IT!?” “Yes, that one.” “By god..” “Nonetheless. We will get your antivenom, just be prepared. Where should we start looking?” said Jack. “Well I’d start up on that ridge where they attacked from.” “Very well. Let us go, friend.” Category:Roleplays